Wild Prince
by koyuninjagirl
Summary: One stormy night, Echizen Ryoma disappears without a trace. Two years later, someone who looks remarkably a lot like him reappears. Who is this mysterious person?
1. Chapter 1

Hello again! Yes, koyuninjagirl made a new story. Yay. Anyways, enjoy my second story! (or maybe not?) So… Criticize away! Oh yes, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RYOMA!

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><p><strong>Prologue- Chapter One<strong>

Whoosh. The wind blew harshly, and the trees waved their branches violently, as if to capture something. All the Seigaku tennis regulars were walking together in the pitch-black shadows of the stormy night. They were walking back to Oishi's house from tennis practice to wait out the oncoming storm. Tezuka Kunimitsu glanced around when they walked into the dim glow of a streetlight.

"All accounted for," Tezuka muttered to himself, sighing in relief. He couldn't shake the feeling that told him something bad was going to happen. An omen, perhaps?

"We're almost there," Oishi said quietly, just loud enough for the regulars to hear. Some regulars, like Eiji and Momo, sighed in relief loudly. Others, like Tezuka, had no reaction. Tezuka glanced at the back of the group, expecting to hear a snarky comment. Surprisingly, there was none. Maybe he couldn't hear the comment over the increasingly loud wailing of the wind.

"Maybe he's too scared to comment?" Fuji commented to Tezuka. Tezuka doubted the possibility, but he shrugged anyways. He didn't even need Inui to tell him the percentage of chance that the team's resident rookie tennis prodigy was scared.

Splish. Splish. Drops of rain began to fall. Tezuka began to feel more and more cumulating dread. They were all there, right?

The lights of a house broke through the darkness. Finally, they had reached Oishi's house. Tezuka couldn't help but breathe out a silent sigh of relief. They were all there, right?

"One, two, three, four, five," Tezuka counted, "six, seven, eight." Wait, there was one person missing?

"Eh? Where did he go?" Oishi asked, close to panicking.

"Maybe he left to his own house?" Momo replied. "Can we just go in already? It's cold!" Eiji nodded in agreement. Oishi sighed, but opened the door to the house. As the others tramped into the house with mumbles and shouts of, "Ojama shimasu! (Sorry for intruding)", Tezuka lingered behind.

"Echizen, where are you?"

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><p>So that was the prologue, hope you liked it. Early Merry Christmas as well. Happy birthday, Echizen Ryoma! Criticize away, readers. =3<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

****Hello again. =) As apology for the first chapter being so short, I made this chapter really long. ^.^

Thank you for your reviews!

kirana46: Thank you! And I continued it, so there you go! =3

Sapphire Cheetah: Ahaha, I won't tell you what happened to him and when he left or why his teammates didn't notice him leave. You'll just have to read and find out~! =3 And if you wanna know what happens next, just continue reading this fanfiction. ^.^ Keep reviewing and I'll probably update faster. =3

Sakoori Sakura Koori: Yes, I am continuing this. =3 And if this helps you with your writing mysteries, review and help me with my story~! =3

MintLeafeon: Ahaha, I won't tell you where he disappeared off to. Where's the fun in that? =3 Can't wait? Well here's the update!

Read the second chapter if you wish to. =3 And criticize well! =D

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><p><strong>Chapter T<strong>**wo**

_Two Years Later_

"Fuji," Tezukirana46ka placed a hand onto Fuji's shoulder just when Fuji was about to leave the class. "Remember to go _there_ today." Fuji turned and nodded. His usual smile was gone, and in its usual place was a slight frown.

"I know," Fuji murmured quietly. Tezuka nodded in response and let Fuji leave.

_One Hour Later_

A single gate stood between the Tokyo High tennis regulars and the person they wanted to see. All the Seigaku tennis regulars had made it as regulars at Tokyo High. Except for him, who they had come to see today. Time had not changed their features, save the one or two inches they had grown in these two years.

Tezuka looked around at all the regulars' faces. He could practically taste the heavy atmosphere. Even Eiji's usual cheerfulness was gone, only to be replaced by a somber mood. Tezuka turned, opened the gate, and walked into a…

Cemetery. The trees that lined the sides were bare, except for the single sakura tree planted behind the single gravestone in the cemetery. The regulars walked over to the headstone and stood awkwardly for a few moments before cleaning the stone.

**Here lies Echizen Ryoma,**

**A treasured friend, **

**A wonderful son,**

**A tennis regular and the pillar of support for the Seigaku tennis club.**

**A cocky brat for all of eternity.**

**May he lie in peace and let his soul be blessed forever.**

After the cleaning was done, the regulars each placed a bouquet of flowers onto the stone. A single tennis ball was placed onto the headstone. Each regular got down onto their knees and talked silently to Echizen Ryoma.

"Echizen, I'm sorry. I let my guard down," Tezuka whispered.

"Ochibi, we will always remember you," Eiji softly said. "We won the Nationals last year again in your honor. We will do so this year as well."

"Echizen, I miss those times when we went to that burger shop together after tennis practice," Momo said sadly. When they were talking, the only thought going through their heads was, 'Echizen/Ochibi, I miss you.'

What wasn't true, however, about the engravings on the gravestone was the "Here lies Echizen Ryoma" part. After that fateful night…

_~Flashback~_

"EH? Ochibi called in SICK?" Eiji asked, dumbfounded.

"Sensei told me," Fuji shrugged. Momo nodded in agreement.

"When I went to pick him up today, his mother told me he was sick. I don't know why, but she looked kind of… worried. Might have been my imagination though," Momo informed.

"Fshuu… Probably your imagination, baka," Kaido hissed.

"What did you just say? You looking for a fight, Mamushi?" Momo shot back.

"Fshuu… What did you just call me, baka peach-butt?" Kaido hissed back. The two rivals started bickering.

"Ie data," Inui muttered. "So even Echizen calls in sick. 90% from yesterday's storm, 9% from other reasons, 1% from slacking off."

"Is he alright?" Kawamura wondered shyly, but was then handed his racket by a smiling Fuji. "OOH! YEAH! BURNING! LET'S VISIT ECHIZEN AT HIS HOUSE! YEAH, BABY!" Kawamura dropped his racket on accident and looked around meekly.

"Echizen is sick! Oh no, we shouldn't have let him head home by himself yesterday. What if he catches pneumonia and dies, OH NO!" Oishi fussed, mother hen genes kicking in. "We _have _to go visit him!"

"Saa… Yes, let's go visit him," smiled Fuji the Sadist.

All in all, Tezuka entered the tennis courts to see utter chaos ensuing. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he sighed and inhaled deeply.

"Fifty laps, everyone, for the disorder in here!" Tezuka shouted.

"But-!" Arai, a non-regular, started to complain.

"Sixty, all of you! Don't make me assign you more!" ordered Tezuka.

"Hai, buchou!" a chorus of replies sounded, along with dirty looks directed at Arai. On his way to run his laps, Oishi filled Tezuka in on what had happened. Tezuka sighed and let Oishi go run his laps. If Echizen wasn't here tomorrow, the regulars would go visit him tomorrow after school.

_The Next Day_

"Yay! Yay! We get to see Ochibi!" Eiji cheered, bouncing along. Echizen had not been at school that day either, so Tezuka had decided to let all the regulars go visit him. What they saw at his house, however, was not the scene they were expecting.

A police car was parked in front of the Echizen household, and an officer was talking to the Echizen parents. Nanako, Ryoma's cousin, was leading another officer with a tracking dog into the house. The Echizen mother, Rinko, seemed slightly tearful but looked as if she were trying to hold herself together. The Echizen father was completely breaking down and sobbing.

"Seishounen, seishounen!" Echizen Nanjiroh sobbed. The eight regulars, shocked by the scene, ran towards the two parents.

"What happened here?" Tezuka asked, stoic as usual. The Echizen parents looked at the incoming regulars like flowers to a sun. Yet the flowers withered after every face in the group had been searched.

"Have you seen Ryoma?" the Echizen mother asked, hope evident in her voice.

"No, we haven't seen him since the day before yesterday," Tezuka replied.

"Has something happened?" Oishi asked politely. After the Echizen parents explained that Ryoma had not come home the day before yesterday _or_ yesterday, the regulars felt guilty. They should have checked if he had gone home.

"Ochibi!" Eiji wailed. The very sound, filled with such plain grief, seemed to echo into the empty, desolate sky.

_~Flashback End~_

The police never found him. After three months, the media on the case of his disappearance subsided and the police proclaimed Echizen dead. The grieving parents had moved back to New York, and Nanako continued her college studies. The regulars had their own funeral in Japan, and the parents had one in America, which meant there were two graves for Ryoma. Two years had passed, and the regulars still mourned Echizen's passing.

"Let's go back to my house," Tezuka suggested, getting up. The rest of the regulars nodded and followed suit.

"I remember how I used to put him into a headlock," Momo joked around with Eiji.

"I used to hug him!" Eiji smiled cheerfully for the first time that day. "He was so cute and cuddly I couldn't resist~!"

"Saa… Wasn't that because he was the shortest?" Fuji smiled.

"Who's the shortest now?" Momo wondered idly, looking around. "Eiji-sempai is!"

"Wha-!" Eiji exclaimed in disbelief. "No way, Fujiko grew taller than me!" Eiji pouted. "Well, Ochibi would probably still be shorter than me, right?"

"There is a 35% chance of that," Inui calculated. As the regulars continued to bicker, they soon reached Tezuka's house.

"Sorry for intruding!" the others called. Tezuka took off his shoes and called, "Oka-san, I'm home."

"Aa, welcome back!" Tezuka's mother called back. "Speak of the devils…" The group of regulars reached the dining room and saw Tezuka's mother speaking to two males.

"Oka-san, who are they?" Tezuka asked with utmost politeness.

"Clients that came to your grandfather with a request to repair some swords," Tezuka's mother replied. One of the males turned around, stood up, and bowed.

"Nice to meet you, the name's Yuki," he grinned and introduced. Yuki was about Fuji's height and looked to be around 17 years old. He had light brown hair like Fuji's and green eyes like Oishi's, along with a Momo-like personality. He wore a brown shirt and ripped blue jeans, along with blue Vans. Yuki's hair was brushed like Eiji's.

"Ah, nice to meet you as well," Oishi politely replied.

"Who's the person next to you?" Eiji asked curiously, since Yuki's companion had not turned.

"Huh? Oh," Yuki realized his companion had not spoken, "hey, be polite and introduce yourself!"

"Hn," a smooth, velvety voice sighed. The tone clearly meant 'oh-wow-why-the-heck-do-I-even-have-to-do-this-kind-of-idiotic-thing'. All that was conveyed into one grunt. The person got up and turned around, sighing again.

'This guy is tall.' That was the first thought that ran through the regulars' heads. Starting from the bottom, the regulars examined him from head to toe. He wore black Converse and black ripped jeans. He had an open black and gray plaid shirt over a closed white shirt that hugged him in all the right places, effectively showing off his toned chest. Both shirts were short-sleeved, showing off his perfectly muscled arms. The male's greenish-black hair reached his neck and he had a white Fila cap on his head. Any girl or guy would thing 'Whoa, he's hot.' and whistle. Yet what shocked the regulars most was his eyes. The male's eyes were hazel-golden. The same color as Echizen's. Oh wait, he was introducing himself.

"Ryoma. Yoroshiku."

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><p>That was the second chapter! Lol who is this new person calling himself Ryoma? Is he the original one who disappeared? Criticism is much appreciated. =3<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three! I'm sorry for the long wait... Actually, I had this all handwritten out already. But, truth to be told, four or five pages of teeny-tiny words did not seem... very fun to type... It's 2,288 words. So, I put it off... Well, I typed it out now... So enjoy!

Thank you for reviewing and being patient for this update:

**MintLeafeon**:Yes, I will torture you~ =D Well, you're finding out... When you read Ch. 3 :3

**kirana46**: I specialize in cliffhangers, I'm afraid... You have no excuse to kill me now. =)

**RockPrincess410**: In suspense? GASP. That's just what I was hoping for. :3 Updated. XD

**jerui**: Perhaps... I cannot tell you, I'm afraid. =3

**Sakoori Sakura Koori Kobayashi**: WHAT? HE IS? Are you sure it really is him? =3 And good luck with your next chapter~ ^_^

**Sapphire Cheetah**: Good, you understand that you have to find out yourself ^_^ Updated, and thank you~!

**DaPurpleDino**: It is updated! ^_^ Thanks!

**pinaygurl28**: Ah yes, interesting, my favorite word. (not really XD)

Alright, chapter three~!

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><p>Chapter<strong> Three<strong>

Ryoma. First the eye color. Then the name. Maybe this guy really was Echizen! The regulars began to feel… hopeful, perhaps? Maybe Echizen never actually did die!

"Saa… What's your surname?" Fuji asked, eyes opened.

"Why should I tell you?" came the retort. Just then, the Tezuka grandfather handed two English-style swords to Yuki.

"Thank you, how much total do the repairs cost?" Yuki inquired.

"Aa, here's the receipt," the Tezuka grandfather handed Yuki a piece of paper.

"Here you are," Yuki gave the Tezuka grandfather a wad of cash.

"Eh? You gave me ¥1000 extra," the Tezuka grandfather started to hand back the extra money.

"That's the tip," Ryoma cut in, stopping the Tezuka grandfather's hand from moving any further.

"What?" the Tezuka grandfather raised an eyebrow. "No need for a tip."

"We insist," Yuki smiled gently. "Accept it."

"Then we'll take our leave," Ryoma said quickly. Ryoma then started to drag Yuki out the door. "Bye!"

The regulars watched as Ryoma and Yuki walked out of the room, stunned. Was that Echizen? But he was so tall! He could have grown talker. But he didn't show any signs of recognizing them! Plus, he seemed so… polite!

"Oh, they forgot this!" the Tezuka mother suddenly exclaimed, picking up a jacket. "Kunimitsu, hurry and take this to them before they get too far!"

"Aa," came the reply.

"We'll go with him," the other regulars chorused. They wanted to know more about Ryoma.

Hastily, they ran out the door. Luckily, Ryoma and Yuki had not gone far. The two were just a few feet from the Tezuka residence.

"Thank you!" Yuki was reunited with his jacket. "Let us repay you, please. Why-"

"What's with the us? It's _your_ jacket," Ryoma deadpanned.

"-don't we treat you to burgers?" Yuki proceeded on, ignoring the interruption.

"Yes, yes! Yay, nya~!" Eiji cheered.

This was how the regulars found themselves standing in front of a cash register at a burger shop ordering their meals (except for Tezuka).

"Eh? I thought _you_ were paying!" Momo exclaimed. Yuki had just ordered and stepped to the side where the other regulars were waiting.

"Who said that?" Yuki replied with a grin. "Besides, he's got all the money." The regulars followed Yuki's finger to see Ryoma sighing and stepping up to the cash register.

"Here," Ryoma handed the clerk a card, completely ignoring the flirting the girl behind the register was doing. _Wait_, a card?

"A card? Where'd you get that?" Eiji's jaw was unhinged.

"You didn't steal it, did you?" Oishi looked worried.

"No, my old man gave it to me, idiots," Ryoma rolled his eyes.

"Eh?" Momo blurted. "No way!"

"Yes way. That's exactly why _he_ pays," Yuki answered, laughing.

"Shut up and eat already," Ryoma sighed.

"Saa… how are we going to pick that all up?" Fuji suddenly asked, pointing at the mountain of food piled on two trays. "I don't think even Kawamura can pick this all up at once." The smile on Fuji's face clearly signified that he was enjoying the role of pointing out a troublesome problem.

"Easy," Ryoma sighed again. Walking over, he picked up both trays as if they were two pieces of paper. He set both down at a table.

"Whoa," Momo was the first to react. "Amazing."

"Fshuu…" Kaido hissed. For once, the two rivals actually agreed on something without even fighting.

"How heavy?" Yuki grinned at Ryoma. It must have been an inside joke, because Ryoma actually smiled.

"He was heavier, of course," replied Ryoma. The regulars wondered what the two were talking about. They were… confused. Ryoma's cell phone suddenly rang, so he walked off to answer.

"Who?" Inui asked, whipping out his notebook.

"Hm? Oh, the guy who won the boxing and wrestling championship," Yuki babbled absently, already eating.

"Eh? What about him?" Eiji asked, curiosity piqued.

_~Flashback~_

"What? _What_ did you just say?" an angry voice rose above the other noises in the crowd. The crowd fell silent, which was unusual in New York.

"Eep!" came a soft squeak.

"Why, you coward!" the angry voice, which belonged to the boxing/wrestling champion of the US, shouted. The young girl he was shouting at cowered.

Drawing back his fist, the buff, extremely muscular man raced towards the little girl. Before he reached her, however, the man tripped on a rock and hit something as hell on the same thing he hit. Or actually, in this case, a some_one_.

"Ne, you're heavy, get off," a smooth, silky, and velvety voice sounded from under the champion. "If you were planning on hitting a little girl that way, then _you're_ the real coward." The champion didn't move.

"…" the one who was being used as a pillow sighed. He pushed the champion-with-his-300-something-pounds off of himself and lifted the guy in the air before setting him down.

"Uh?" the champion regained his bearings. "Hey, don't get in the way, fatso!"

"Hn," the male who had been used as a pillow finally turned around. To an outsider, they might not have known him, but Yuki knew this was Ryoma.

"You know, not only are you the one who punched and fell on me, you are also the one who's blaming me," Ryoma smoothly said.

"You punk!" the champion attempted to punch Ryoma.

"Che. You have a short temper," Ryoma caught the punch with his hand without any effort.

"Grr… you brat!" the champion cursed. Ryoma frowned as the champion began to cuss at him, calling Ryoma many colorful words.

"No one like you curses at me like that," Ryoma's eyes flashed dangerously.

"Yeah, right, you brat!" the champion spat. Ryoma rose to his full height, 5'4".

"Apologize to her," Ryoma commanded. The champion just spat some saliva onto the ground, completely disregarding Ryoma.

"Make me, punk," laughed the champion.

"A. P. O. L. O. G. I. Z. E.," eyes flashing, Ryoma made quite a scary sigh with his aura of murder surrounding him. An angry Ryoma was not good.

"M-make m-me-e," stuttered the champion, feeling slightly frightened now.

"Apologize," Ryoma simply said. This one word, uttered with so much power, pushed the insane champion over the edge.

"I'm so sorry! Please forgive me!" the champion turned and apologized to the little girl. The champion knelt on the ground and bowed to the girl, as if her were worshipping her. He was in the 'OTL' position.

Ryoma ignored the pathetic man in front of him and looked at his arm. Darn. It was going to bruise.

_~Flashback End~_

"Eh?" Eiji and Momo exclaimed. Amazing.

"90% chance that even Taka couldn't win against the champion in an arm-wrestling competition," Inui stated.

"Saa… What school does he go to?" Fuji tilted his head to the side. A power school or something?

"Hm, he'll be going to mgrh here," Yuki's mouth was covered by Ryoma's hand. Ryoma had just come back in time to hear the end of Fuji's question.

"What are you telling them?" Ryoma glared at Yuki. Now that Yuki mentioned it, the regulars noticed that Ryoma really did have an aura of charisma and power.

"-leaving now," Ryoma was saying.

"What? Already?" Eiji exclaimed, noticing that Yuki had just finished eating.

"Yeah, we have to go meet someone now," Yuki said. He looked sort of eager while Ryoma was sighing.

"Don't know why you like her so much. She's such a nuisance," Ryoma was muttering.

"She?" Fuji couldn't help saying.

"He likes her, for reasons I cannot understand," replied Ryoma, nodding towards Yuki.

"Ah, youth," Momo sighed.

"Momo, you're only 15," Oishi chided.

"15?" Ryoma smirked. "Then you're younger than Yuki. He's 17."

"SEVENTEEN?" the more vocal regulars shouted, falling out of their seats.

"But he's so _short_!" Momo protested. "I thought he was still in middle school or something!"

"Excuse me for being vertically challenged," a vein in Yuki's head was bursting. "Hey, but Mr. Tall Guy over here was shorter than me before."

"Ah, we need to go, bye!" Ryoma dragged Yuki away before Yuki could say more.

"I wonder how old Ryoma is," Fuji pouted. "Ne, Tezuka?"

"Aa," Tezuka grunted. The regulars turned in surprise. They had forgotten Tezuka was here.

Suddenly, Fuji's phone began to buzz. He had received a text message. Who from?

"Oh, it's Yuuta!" Fuji smiled in delight.

_Aniki, I'll be staying at the Tokyo Hotel. I'm in Room XXX. Sis said for me to meet you at 6 in the lobby._

_-Yuuta_

"Oh right, the meeting of the old middle school teams," Oishi muttered. Fuji's smile wavered a bit, remembering the reason the teams were gathering. To commemorate Echizen.

_30 Minutes Later_

"Yuuta!" Fuji called to his brother.

"Aniki!" Yuuta waved ack. A limo pulled up in front of the hotel and the old Hyotei regulars piled out. Of course, a red carpet was rolled out and Atobe walked out.

"Tezuka," Atobe nodded.

"Atobe," Tezuka nodded back.

"Ah, Tezuka, Atobe," a voice called. The called two turned to see the old Rikkai Dai regulars, Yukimura at their head.

"Yukimura," Tezuka acknowledged. Atobe inclined his head.

All in all, the regulars of four old middle school teams met to eat at a restaurant in honor of Echizen. For once, Atobe didn't comment on how commoner-ish the hotel was. At the restaurant, it was an almost normal affair. They were trying to seem happy so that Echizen would be happy. Of course, the old Seigaku regulars had a new hope lit by a certain person they met today.

Now the regulars were back at the hotel. For the week, they would be staying in the hotel. In the lobby, the regulars were chatting and waiting for the elevators. Suddenly, the Seigaku regulars heard a familiar voice. No, there were two.

"Come on, lighten up. She's not _that_ bad!" one voice said.

"You're not the one carrying her every time," came a retort.

The Seigaku regulars turned and saw Yuki and Ryoma. Just as they expected from the voices. But there was a woman with them who Ryoma was carrying.

"Ochibi!" Eiji blurted in glee. He jumped towards Ryoma and Yuki. Who was he aiming for? Ryoma. But since Ryoma was walking too fast… Yuki was glomped.

"OOF!" Yuki's air supply was cut off.

"Eiji, stop, he can't breathe!" Oishi pulled/pried Eiji off.

"Eh?" a surprised Eiji asked. "Where's Ochibi?"

"I'm so sorry for being vertically challenged," Yuki frowned. Well, attempted to frown. Looked more like a pout.

"Saa… Who's that?" Fuji pointed at the woman Ryoma was carrying.

"His girlfriend," Ryoma frowned, obviously irritated.

By now, of course, all the other regulars had noticed Yuki and Ryoma. Their jaws dropped to the floor. Yes, even Atobe, although he would never admit it. They yelped.

"Isn't that _Echizen_?"

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><p>Yes, Chapter 3 done. Sorry for the wait... And go ahead and criticize... XP<p>

Chapter 4?

...

No, I don't know when that will be done. Sorry. XD


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